Thursday, September 16, 2010

Caleb Asher's birth story

Well I think we have established that I am the world's worst blogger! But here I am finally to share the story of our third child's birth! It all started on Monday, August 30th when my parents arrived from Lynchburg, VA. We were so thrilled that Grandpa was able to come, since he had his bypass surgery only a couple of months ago. He has had such a great recovery and was given the green light to come. We were all thrilled to have him here and the kids took advantage of every minute with Grandma and Grandpa!




I think by the end of their week here, my parents were exhausted from reading books to my children! But these were precious photo moments for sure!


Grandpa and Carter also enjoyed putting a puzzle together!


Here I am, my last evening being pregnant! Last time just sitting with two of my children, I would soon be the mother of three...




The next morning, we had to be at the hospital by 6 am to prep for surgery.



At this point, I was just ready to get the show rolling and be done with all of this!




Sydney ended up being with us that morning even though she was supposed to be spending the night with our friends. We ended up bringing her home late that night because she woke up crying and wouldn't go back to sleep. Then we had to wake her up early to go to the hospital with us. She was a trooper, but it looks like she is about to fall asleep here!!
It was the third time I was having a c-section in this hospital, but everything was very different from the start. For starters, my previous two c-sections had been around 6:30 pm on a Thursday evening. This one was at 7:30 am on a Wednesday. I had a different anestheologist this time, and was in a different OR this time as well.
Surgery was supposed to start at 7:30 am, but there was an issue with the epidural... as in, it wasn't working! As they were prepping me for surgery and testing to see if my legs were numb, the anesetheologist kept getting worried when he would ask if they were numb, and I would say, "No!" Surgery was delayed about 30-40 mins because they finally had to re-administer the epidural! You know, once is fun enough, really! But once it was put in a second time, I began to get numb, and we were well on our way.

Before I knew it, I heard my baby boy crying, and so I began to cry! Tears of joy, and just thankful to be done. It was a fairly easy pregnancy, but the last couple of months, being the hottest summer on record in Texas... were not fun to say the least!



He was perfect, in every way...




Our precious baby boy! He was finally here!





Steve and I couldn't have been more thrilled! Okay, maybe Mommy was the most thrilled... but Daddy was pretty thrilled as well!



Soon we were rolled into the c-section recovery room and were allowed to have visitors.


Proud Grandpa Blackburn was the first to hold Caleb!



Then of course Grandma Blackburn had the honors.



Sydney surprisingly took to the new baby right away. She is going to be such a wonderful mother someday!




All this passing around, and I finally realized that I hadn't held my baby boy yet!! So we had a little bonding time!

Then he was whisked away to the nursery to be weighed and measured. And the verdict was...


8 lbs even! Actually at first, the scale said 7 lbs 15.9 oz and the nurse began to say that he was 7 lbs 16 oz! But another nurse quickly responded that didn't quite add up right! So they weighed again, and it was officially 8 lbs. He was also 19.25 inches long.




We were soon taken to my room to wait the several hours before they bring the baby to me... yes, it is a torturous few hours! But once they brought him up and we had our first nursing session, our guests began to arrive.



Our friends brought Carter and he finally got his first peek at his new baby brother. He wasn't quite sure what to do with him at first.


But he finally warmed up, a little... Carter takes time adjusting to new situations, and this was a big one for him!


Here our friend Alex is holding his new little pal!



And then proud Grandma Westdyk...



And proud Grandpa Westdyk!



Later on our good friend Robyn stopped by to say hello!
We spent three days in the hospital and were well taken care of. By Saturday though, I was ready to go home and be with my children and parents. Fortunately, Steve had been there with me most of the week but I just really needed to be home again. Upon discharge, I was checked out by the on call Doctor and she told me that I had gotten an infection in my c-section incision. She wanted to keep me another day. She could tell by the look on my face that I really didn't like that option! So I was given a shot with an antibiotic and a prescription and was told to come back if the infection got worse.


Caleb passed the seat check...



And he was given the green light to go home as well! Our Pediatrician said he was just perfect in every way. Even didn't get jaundiced at all, which he said that 95% of babies do get it! He was also our tiniest baby. By the time we left the hospital, he was 7 lbs 8 oz. We have never had a baby go below 8 lbs!


So now, our little angel is at home! The first week was really rough, I'm not going to lie. I was feeling really sick from the infection and was having a rough time with nursing at first. I was exhausted from the lack of sleep and overwhelmed with now having three children! I began to wonder how I would ever make it... but it got easier with time. The infection began to heal up, and nursing became easier. I learned that I needed to sleep every chance I could and take advantage of the fact that my husband works from home!
The kids were definitely adjusting, but doing well. Little Sydney is definitely a mother at heart. Every chance she gets, she likes to pretend her doll is her baby and put her in the baby's swing or carseat...






Caleb is a sweet, and sleepy baby! Unfortunately a little too sleepy during the day and less sleepy at night... but we are working on that! When he had his first bath, he didn't even cry!


So now we are two weeks in, and he is doing great! Nursing is going really well and we are slowly but surely getting back into gear. Today at his two week check up, he had already gained back to his birth weight and then some... he was 8 lbs 9 oz, a full lb in one week! Guess that milk really does work! We are so happy with our little family of 5 and enjoying every moment!



























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I am a homeschooling mom to four. I just had a VBAC after 3 c-sections this year after I was told I no longer had the choice by my first Doctor. I am a childbirth instructor for Birth Boot Camp. My first class starts January of 2013!